Coding & Productivity
LibreOffice
LibreOffice is far more than a free alternative for people loathe to shell out for Microsoft Office – it’s a decent suite in its own right. Now at version 5.3, the software includes old favourites Writer (for word processing), Calc (spreadsheets) and Impress (presentations), as well as Draw (design), Base (databases) and Math (for, quelle
surprise, maths). Apart from the slightly cartoonish look of the icons, there’s little to distinguish the suite from Microsoft’s offerings. This extends to functionality, with powerful tools in place to improve the look of your document, keep your spreadsheet ticking over and make sure your presentations, if you’ll pardon the pun, impress. A favourite feature of ours is the smartphone-esque AutoCorrect function, which draws on previously typed words to bring up a suggestion after three letters.
Compatibility is also good. For example, you can save a Writer document as a Microsoft Word DOCX or XML file, as well as in RTF, TXT and the standard OpenDocument formats. As a mini-test, we pasted in Edgar Allen Poe’s The
Raven, formatted it, saved the document and watched as it opened intact in Word. Also note version 5.3’s new cloud capability, LibreOffice Online, allowing you to run it “on your own private cloud infrastructure”.
If you want a hassle-free way of creating documents, tracking your expenses, or even tinkering with that pesky quadratic equation, LibreOffice is an excellent resource.
Notepad++
Notepad++ was created for programmers, with some preferring its simplicity to full IDEs (integrated development environments) such as Visual Studio. Built on Windows’ Notepad, the interface is a bit oldfashioned and the menu cluttered, but its sheer speed makes it a pleasure to use. Programmers particularly appreciate the code completion, the colour coding, and that they can switch to a different language so easily – although even non-coders should give it a whirl as a way to jot down notes and type up pieces without distraction.
It’s also one of the most popular pieces of open-source software out there. With an active community behind it – and that’s understating things – there are so many plugins that one of the main complaints about the software is plugin management.
Not that such things deter reader Dave Poyser, who recommended the software. “I use Notepad++ daily for all sorts of editing,” he told us. “It’s crammed full of features that I use whether I’m editing config files, or writing code. On a new build, this is a second install after Office for me.”